Sabena Siddiqi

Reinforcing links between regional countries, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was founded in 1985, with its current membership comprising of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. With an overall mixed performance, its highest point was in achieving an impressive 7.0 percent average growth rate over two decades. Promoting inter-action and mutual dialogue, SAARC worked for peace and harmony in the region by concentrating on common interests and settling regional issues. Unfortunately, ever since the cancellation of the last SAARC Conference in 2016, a vacuum has been created and the future credibility of the organization is at stake. Functionally viable, in the past the group put forth different trade structures and mechanisms such as the South Asia Free Trade Agreement and South Asia Preferential Trade Agreement. Lacking any definite roadmap ahead now, it seems to have been postponed indefinitely ever since I...

Sitting on a massive goldmine of energy reserves, Central Asia's Kazakhstan has 30 billion barrels of oil reserves while Turkmenistan's natural gas is estimated at 265 trillion cubic feet. As a result this region is extremely vital in the battle for resources and global dominance over the last decade. Located right in the center of Eurasia, it has considerable potential as a market for its natural gas, gold, copper, aluminum, iron and cotton as well. Geo-economically, CARs are indispensable trade partners for neighboring countries in this era. Being the third largest consumer of crude oil globally, India wants to have closer strategic and economic ties with the Central Asian states but its trade volume sits at just $500 million. Limited land connectivity has proved to be the major obstacle. Lacking borders with the Central Asian states, India is denied land access through Pakistan's territory due to constant friction between the two countries. Likewise, even after ha...

Nowadays, running out of battery is the only concern when leaving home, as an estimated 40 percent of China’s population now carries less than $15 cash equivalent in their pockets, according to one report. It all started when China's Internet users decided they preferred to go online via their mobile devices, and then went on to avail themselves of Alipay, the payments option of e-commerce giant Alibaba. Following suit, the ubiquitous Wechat app launched Wechat Pay to keep its 500 million user base hooked; soon after, the Chinese search engine Baidu also introduced its own version of the wallet. As the movement grew, the Chinese government pro-actively allowed banks to include the QR Code scanning system and process mobile payments, bringing a new expanding market into the mainstream. Working on providing transparency, China's central bank established a nation-wide clearing house for mobile payment services. This was necessary, according to analyst Wang Pengbo, as ...

The world's "most important bilateral relationship" made a positive new beginning with President Trump's state visit to China. The bonhomie produced bodes well for the world as they oversee one-third of the world’s economy, a quarter of its trade and command its two most powerful armies. Having achieved a landmark consensus on China-U.S. relations, President Xi Jinping announced: "The meeting between myself and President Trump sets the tone and lays a solid foundation for the solid development of the China-U.S. relationship. It will achieve more results and more benefits for people around the world." Amid the good vibes, President Trump was optimistic that the two countries could effectively resolve problems in the world together, and looked forward "to building an even stronger relationship." Regarding the trade imbalance, he surprised some by saying: "The U.S. really has to change its policies because they’ve gotten so far behind on ...

In the aftermath of Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman’s unveiling of the unprecedented Vision 2030 reforms, a sense of renaissance seems to exist in Saudi Arabia. Diversifying the oil economy along new routes for rapid progress, it is definitely the brainchild of the young Prince; however, he modestly insists he is only "one of 20 million people. I am nothing without them." Nevertheless, such a holistic package for economic, cultural and societal reform has not been seen before in recent Saudi history. Opening up Saudi Arabia to the world, the Prince announced his country would become "moderate" and "open" and that he would "eradicate" radical Islamist ideology. "We are returning to what we were before -- a country of moderate Islam open to all religions and to the world," he told an audience of world luminaries attending a major investment conference in the country. Announcing a futuristic new city named "NEOM," 33...

In a significant new development, China has proposed initiating an economic corridor with Myanmar to advance bilateral trade links, creating a central intersection for the Belt and Road Initiative between Southeast Asia and China. Addressing the media while on a recent visit to Myanmar and Bangladesh, Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced, "China and Myanmar have great potential for cooperation as they are highly complementary in economy. To further enhance China-Myanmar comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, China has proposed building the China-Myanmar economic corridor." Starting from Yunnan in southwestern China, the corridor would proceed south to Mandalay in Myanmar, eastward to Yangon and then westward to the Kyaukpyu special economic zone. This would boost connectivity and facilitate development throughout Myanmar. Three branches of this network would operate along with a proposed $1.5 billion oil pipeline through the Bay of Bengal. Deepening economic co...